Fae Wiedenhoeft

Fae Wiedenhoeft (pronounced Wee-den-hauft) has been singing since before she could form words. She grew up on the wrongside of the tracks in the Chicago suburb of Cicero, IL in a family that was mostly happy, slightly musical, and led a humble life. After years of private concerts in her backyard, singing into the top of a broom handle for squirrels and friends, Fae received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre Performance from The Theatre Conservatory of the Chicago College of Performing Arts. During this time, she actively performed with professional and community theatre companies. Upon graduation, she was hired to perform on the West Coast of Canada in a stage production called “A Song For Ireland”. Surrounded by folks from Ireland, Fae listened to stories of life from other places and began composing. The show eventually formed a band that mingled with another bands,and it wasn't long before Fae was performing within a few groups professionally. She is included on five records recorded, manufactured, and sold in Canada. 

Fae briefly lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2003 and met film maker and bass player, Adam "Captain" Chambers, who later became her husband. Together they created and hosted the Blue November MicroFilmFestival, which was an international showcase of film, art, and music. Fae also played throughout the greater Tulsa area and found her way back to the West Coast in 2006.

Fae formed her Seattle based band, SeaStar, in 2007 with her friend Doug Hayman. Since her last name always seemed to create a pronunciation nightmare, an easy short band name seemed like the way to go. They have toured in Ireland and Scotland, sharing the stage with noted performers like Dougie MacLean. Fae tends to tour solo most of the time, but the band has had a few North American and European tours that have been highly successful Current members include: Captain Chambers, Michael Falcone and Ron Allen. SeaStar has multiple studio recorded records as well as over half a dozen live and home-studio recordings. The band also has two DVDs showcasing their tours in Ireland and Scotland.

In 2010, with master Egyptian tabla player, George Sadak, Fae helped arrange and performed on a Middle Eastern Christmas album called "Christmas Tapestry - East Meets West", produced by Dena Sukaya of Ottoman Trading Company. The record was very successful in the dance community and abroad. Fae loved working on this album as it was a great challenge to take traditional carols and arrange them with Middle Eastern rhythms, instruments, and players. This record created the path for Fae to tour in Turkey where she sang for balloon pilots in Göreme (Cappadocia) and sang in the ancient amphitheatre at Ephesus.

Fae collaborated with songwriter, Melody Benbow, and created a duo called Syren from 1998 - 2015. Syren released two albums, "Waves to the Sky" and "Invitation". Highly influenced by Old Scots and waulking songs, the ladies focused on traditional tunes while weaving in a few golden originals of their own. Their harmonies held a sibling quality and the duo played the Ren Faire circuits as well as Northwest FolkLife from time to time.

Fae journeyed to Poland in the summers of 2014, 2017, and 2019 to teach and perform at a fine arts summer camp at Nadwarcianski Grod in Zalecze Wielkie as part of the Kosciuszko Foundation's Teaching English in Poland program. She had the privilege and honour to instruct over 101 students in total each summer, middle school to high school levels. As this was an English Immersion Camp, the students' grasp on English varied greatly and this was a wonderful experience in being adaptive. Fae wrote a song about it in 2014 while she was at the first camp. You can hear it here. She closed the 2019 summer camp with all 101 students and 30+ staff members singing this song. What an adventure!

Fae's studio, called Syren's Voice, began its life in a 1923 train caboose. Fae taught over 50 students, wrote over 100 songs, and held band rehearsal for SeaStar, every Tuesday night, from October 2010 - May 2019 inside the wooden walls of the Great Northern Caboose X549 that lived in a quaint shopping center called Country Village in Bothell, WA. In 2019, Country Village closed and the caboose was sold to Tenino Railway Depot who restored ol' "Caboosie" to her full glory. You can read more Here
Fae teaches private lessons in voice, guitar, ukulele, song writing, and is a performance coach. She engineers small recordings for students as well as hosts summer acting camps. Fae's passion for music and performing is deeply felt by her students. Her studio often has a wait list and runs with a roster of 20 - 35 students at a time. She is teaches online lessons fand has students across the country.

When Fae is not teaching or performing in the Pacific Northwest or abroad, she is a visual artist, diving deep into sketch, photography, and painting. Fae was also a graphic designer for many years, creating many website, brand designs, and socials setups for many artists. Currently, Fae has brought her focus back to ink pen and paper creations. Her previous art work was created for album covers for her yearly songwriting challenges. Fae has artwork displayed in three countries and has been published in two national publications. Please visit her bandcamp page to see more artwork. 

Fae is always up for a cuppa tea and a good chat as well as a thrilling storytelling session. She tours abroad every year and has a deep gratitude for this colourful and musical life. She enjoys hearing people's stories as well as soaking up history in ghost towns, ancient ruins, and cobblestone streets. Her humble beginning in life remind her to take nothing for granted and to always be up for an adventure! Fae loves to converse and often asks, "What's your story?' She sincerely hopes that folks live richly, fully, and to make it a good one.